The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A leading Bahamian airline executive yesterday said that it made “no business sense” for Bahamasair to continue to expand to less profitable out island routes, noting that the government-subsidised airline created an “uneven playing field’ for domestic carriers.

SkyBahamas CEO Randy Butler said yesterday that domestic carriers were disadvantaged by the increased fees and competition with the national flag carrier. Mr Butler said that while Bahamasair certainly has “a very important role to play”, it should look to service strategic domestic routes. Mr Butler suggested that Freeport, New Providence and Exuma be established as hubs for the carrier, with distribution left for the domestic airlines.

“If we are going to develop these islands we need a strategic plan for the aviation sector,” Mr Butler said. ”What Bahamasair is doing doesn’t make good business sense, at all. It may make political sense but it doesn’t make good business sense.”

He was referring specifically to Bahamasair resuming regularly scheduled flights to Mayaguana for the first time since 2009. The airport had been closed to commercial carriers and aircraft over 6000lbs for a year after an aircraft, forced to make a risky midnight landing, crashed into a truck last April, setting it on fire and killing its three occupants.

“You have a domestic carrier there already which I understand is doing well and the market is so small for a Dash 8 to be going in there. The people of Mayaguana deserve the best that the Bahamas has to offer but it’s just not practical. I just don’t see the need. Maybe I’m missing something. I don’t understand the move. It’s an expensive run. You have to look at the size of the population,” said Mr Butler.

Mr Butler said that the domestic aviation sector was become increasingly challenging. “Right now as an airline we are just breaking even. It’s a challenge for us with our margins and all of the fees that we have. We are a part of the community and the fees and financial burden being placed on us has limited us in what we are able to do or want to do from a social standpoint in terms of the charities that we assist and scholarships we offer for instance. People depend on that support from SkyBahamas. Our hands are becoming more and more tied by the policy decisions that the government is making and the increases they have been making across the board,” he said.

“Bahamasair certainly has a very important role to play. They should be looking at more at strategic domestic flights, with Freeport, Nassau and Exuma as the hubs and let the other local carriers take it from there, let the local carriers distribute the people from there.”

Mr Butler added: “When it comes to Bahamasair the government is both the regulator and operator. If they don’t pay national insurance or BEC none is going after them and that creates an uneven playing field. When other carriers come in they are getting subsidies as well. How can we compete against a subsidies foreign and local airline?”